Darren Criss
Darren Everett Criss is a 24-year old singer, songwriter and actor from San Francisco, California. He is best known for playing Harry Potter in the fanmade hit musical, A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel. He currently portrays the character of Blaine Anderson on the Fox TV show, Glee, an openly gay student at Dalton Academy, although Darren identifies himself as straight. Early life and education Originally from San Francisco, CA, Darren Everett Criss is half-Filipino (his mother is of Chinese, Filipino and Spanish descent) and half-Irish (on his father's side). He attended the Stuart Hall for Boys for his primary education and St. Ignatius College Preparatory for his secondary education. He went on to the University of Michigan and graduated in 2009 with a major in drama. He plays the guitar, piano, cello, violin, mandolin, and drums. He has an older brother, Chuck Criss, who is part of the indie rock band Freelance Whales. Career 'That Media Show' Darren was the original host of That Media Show, a Rochester short-form web series which discussed Hollywood, filmmaking and visual effects (early episodes are available on iTunes). 'Little White Lie' Though often considered a Starkid production, 'Little White Lie' was a webseries Criss was part of before Team Starkid was formed. Many of the Team Starkid members are in it. The webseries is about a brother-sister duo, Sami and Duder Reese, who rise to fame from one lie. Darren Criss plays Toby Phillips, the love interest of Sami Reese. 'StarKid Productions' Criss is a major actor in the theater production group Team Starkid , formed by musical theatre students at the University of Michigan. His most popular role with Starkid was Harry Potter in both A Very Potter Musical (which went viral in the summer of 2009) and A Very Potter Sequel (which premiered in May 2010). He is credited with writing half of the songs in A Very Potter Musical and all of the songs in A Very Potter Sequel. The popularity of the musical gained Darren many fans within the Harry Potter fandom. thumb|right|250px|Darren in a very potter musical In the fall of 2009, Starkid created an original musical entitled Me and My Dick (for which Darren is credited with writing a few of the songs). He was originally cast as one of the main protagonists, Dick, but had to turn down the role because of his commitment to Eastwick. Joe Walker was chosen instead to play the role of Dick. Darren has contributed to the music for StarKid's latest production, Starship, which is about "a far off world inhabited by a race of giant alien insects" and Bug, who "has never quite fit into bug-society and inside the pus-vesicles that serve as his heart longs for something more." This show was performed live from February 11 to the 23 at the Hoover-Leppen Theatre in Chicago. It had YouTube premiere April 30. Many Starkid fans are possessive of him because they claim to have discovered him before Glee, he has already acknowledged this. Music His music career includes his first self-produced EP "Human", which was released during the summer of 2010, and includes five songs. The album is available for download on iTunes. Songs are: #Human #Sami #Jealousy #Don't You #Not Alone #Bonus Track He started plans for a full-lengthed album before he was hired for Glee, but still has plans to complete a full album in the near future. He has written several other original songs, and performs regularly at various venues in Los Angeles. He is also featured in Charlene Kaye's songs "Skin and Bones" and "Dress and Tie". Television Darren played Josh Burton, a minor recurring character and possible love interest for Mia, on ABC's short-lived drama,' ''Eastwick. He also appeared on an episode of ''Cold Case''', "Free Love" as the '69 version of Reuben Harris. Life of Leopold Bonar Darren Criss uses his voice for the Funny Or Die sensation Life Of Leopold. He is the voice of the title character Leopold Bonar. The pilot and Parts 1 through 5 have been released so far. Life of Leopold Glee Criss auditioned for Glee a couple of times, including an audition for Finn (with a cover of The Little Mermaid's "Part of Your World"), before landing the character of Blaine, a student at a rival school. He said in an interview that he cut his curly hair for auditioning for Blaine. Blaine is an "out-and-proud student" and serves as a mentor to Kurt as he struggles through being bullied at McKinley. It was rumored his character would be a love interest for Kurt Hummel, and this has recently become fact in the episode Original Song when Kurt and Blaine began a relationship. Glee creator Ryan Murphy stated, "Darren has a major, major arc... He sort of becomes Kurt's mentor and then maybe love-he had to leave his own school because of bullying and goes to an all-boys academy and finds acceptance because that school has a no-bullying, zero-tolerance policy. Kurt really admires and respects Blaine. He plays someone who's one year older than Chris' character, so he's the old pro." Although throughout the episodes he has been recognised as a junior in High School, the same year as Kurt, and is appearing in season 3 as a senior along with the rest of the original Cast. Criss is a series guest star on Glee for the remainder of season 2 and maybe regular at the entirety of season 3. Source. Darren's first song on ''Glee ''(which was arranged and backed by Tufts University's Beelzebubs), ''Teenage Dream, hit number 8 on the Billboard charts, selling 214,000 singles in its first week. It surpassed "Don't Stop Believin'" for the highest first-week sales of any Glee song. The show's rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" landed at #2 last May when it sold 177,000 copies. Source Many of his other songs sung in later episodes also reached the top ten on iTunes. Note *#1 on the AfterElton hot 100 Websites *A Very Potter Musical Act I Part I *Darren's youtube page *Team Starkid's Official Page *Darren Criss's Official Page *Twitter Trivia *Originally auditioned for the role of Finn. *His youtube and facebook account name is iclemyer. *Went to University of Michigan and graduated in 2009. *Darren can play the piano, guitar, violin, cello, drums, mandolin, kazoo and harmonica. *Darren won the 2010 Greggy Award for role of Blaine on Glee. *Darren has a Bachelor in Fine Arts in performance and acting from the University of Michigan. *Darren's brother, Chuck Criss, is a member of the Freelance Whales. *Wrote every single song for Team Starkid's A Very Potter Sequel and Starship. He co-wrote with AJ Holmes on A Very Potter Musical and Me and My Dick. *Has a 'cool crush' on co-star Heather Morris. Source *Didn't go to his senior prom because he was grounded. *Hermione Granger is his fictional crush. *His favorite Filipino dish is Tocino. *Wrote his first song, Human, when he was fifteen. *Likes good people that play evil characters. *Got dragged off stage by a fan girl once during a live performance.Video *Had a small cameo role in Katy Perry's Last Friday Night music video, along with fellow Glee co-star Kevin McHale Video *His trademark accessory is his pink sunglasses. *His favorite baseball team is the San Francisco Giants. *His biggest fear is turning into an inanimate object. *Once he had a dream that he was in a concert, but the concert sounded like his alarm clock. *First guest mentor of "The Glee Project". *Likes to text co-stars Chris Colfer and Max Adler. *He celebrated 24th birthday in Chicago with his fellow Starkids. *He describes himself as a ho-hum random guy. *Favorite color is purple, because it is the color of creativity, and roman nobility. *Before the Glee audition for Blaine Anderson, he had to cut his hair, so he could get a better chance of getting the part. *If he could see the world in one color, it would be pink, because so mean people wouldn't look so mean. *Enjoys '''NOT '''being stabbed. *He could speak Italian. Video *He had a imaginary friend as a child, named Iclemyer. *He is known for his 'supermegafoxyawesomehotness'. *He loves all Starkids, and Gleeks equally. *Likes to use the word 'Beautiful' a lot. *He used to live in Hawaii. Videos thumb|250px|right|Teenage Dream livethumb|250px|left|"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" thumb|right|250px|Do You Think I'm Sexy? Oh yeeeesssss. thumb|left|250px|"Belle" Cover thumb|right|250px|Dress and Tie thumb|left|250px|Darren at the Grove thumb|left|250px|Darren Criss preforms 'Not Alone' thumb|right|250px thumb|left|250px|Yong Chavez Interviews Darren Criss thumb|right|250px|GLEE Photo-shoot EW thumb|right|250px|Best Moments thumb|left|250px thumb|right|250px thumb|left|250px|My heart it can't take it!!! Bring AVPM back! thumb|right|250px|Amazingness has no limitation for this guy!!thumb|left|250px|He's adorable!! thumb|left|250px|Darren singing in Italian (LIKE REDVINES, WHAT CAN'T HE DO?) Gallery 6.png Tumblr lghrrg077S1qeogas.jpg Tumblr lgkz5acOQP1qd53kgo1 500.jpg 028.jpg DarrenCriss1.jpg 63461946aelora213201173.jpg 5238068612 302c406b1d.jpg 2me7ss3.jpg.png Darren1.jpg 00013.jpg DCGlee-263R-3.jpg Darren criss gallery3.jpg 108086022.jpg Darrentongue.jpg Zzz.jpg 32384e.jpg 023637190.jpg 5151140308 32f01e63f3 z.jpg Screen shot 2010-07-26 at 11.13.07 AM.png|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_levhh12kia1qagqn9o1_1280.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lgm6ac4DXy1qclq1no1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 24Darren.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 69glqa.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss Darren Criss2.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss Darren Criss3.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss Darren Criss4.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss rcIY6.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 69350_833418.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss s640x480.jpeg|linktext=Darren Criss s640x480n.jpeg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lgho7wjkW31qb74s3o1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 5Darren.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 15yxbu8.jpg.png|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lh6gi3vOn41qdx234o1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lh77lf8NPK1qauecro1_400.png|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lf6rxwheCX1qzl9k5o1_500.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 6a00e54fb7301c88340147e23cecb6970b.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 6a00e54fb7301c88340147e23cea02970b.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_legsn2IAlk1qehni3o1_1280.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 63738818aelora228201180.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 63711981aelora227201153.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss Screen shot 2010-11-16 at 10.21.48 AM.png|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lghrliLfUz1qd53kgo1_500.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 03-3.png|linktext=Darren Criss darrencriss3.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss x2_4ed6201.jpeg|Darren and Charice behind the scenes|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_li7ic1pnvm1qehni3o1_500.jpg|At Paleyfest tumblr_li6x1oaeiQ1qafewko1_500.jpg|At Paleyfest|linktext=Darren Criss K0YJh.png vLKoR.png tumblr_lir300C37C1qegfeco1_1280.png|Darren's hands|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lir3c4Yuaj1qegfeco1_1280.png|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lj5kerleDx1qfa8r3o1_1280.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lj5ka8yXVY1qfa8r3o1_500.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lj5ohkzCUN1qi4s8uo1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lj5nvaPgip1qd53kgo1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lj5oihDp5R1qgu1tvo1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lj72mnafla1qddswgo1_400.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss Darren-criss-yearbook-435x580.jpg|High School Photo|linktext=Darren Criss 8pdHJ.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss XDKDW.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 9dCu2.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss darren-criss-grove-performance-11232010-05-430x645.jpg tumblr_ldt4nxIRdW1qd2377o1_500.png|Yearbook 1069969-criss-magazine-glee-617-409.jpg|Billboard Magazine|linktext=Darren Criss Hrbbq.jpg|Billboard Magazine|linktext=Darren Criss 2zina4n.jpg|With his brother, Chuck|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_ljtbkihGgi1qdyl9uo1_500.jpg|Coachella|linktext=Darren Criss jg9bm.jpg|Before The Today Show|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lk22pwAB1D1qehni3o1_500.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_lk37dciheC1qhnn56o1_500.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss darren1.pbbig.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss darren4.pbbig.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 64433900Aelora423201110425AM.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 64434328Aelora423201110026AM.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 64412007Aelora4232011125606AM.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 64411991Aelora4232011125225AM.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss 64412030Aelora4232011125544AM.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss darrentime.jpg|Times 100|linktext=Darren Criss darrentime3.jpg|Times 100|linktext=Darren Criss 1083929-darren-criss-4-617-409.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss ascapdarren.jpg|linktext=Darren Criss tumblr_ljn9zuupnh1qaqtxn.jpg 67.jpg 68.jpg tight pants!.jpg untitled.JPG|:) dc shirtless.jpg|Darren Criss topless! tumblr_llhyqjdWEN1qfw6gq.jpg tumblr_llhys2xn8A1qfw6gq.jpg tumblr_llhyseTiAZ1qfw6gq.jpg tumblr_llhysr3lw01qfw6gq.jpg tumblr_llhyt5TuJy1qfw6gq.jpg tumblr_llhytg3vF41qfw6gq.jpg|Sexiest one of them all tumblr_llhytqVFYg1qfw6gq.jpg tumblr_llhyucmiTt1qfw6gq.jpg|Melting darren doesn't know.png|darren doesn't know dcriss2.jpg lalala.gif avpm.jpg GQ.jpg|:D tumblr_lgfkfsq6la1qfh0fro1_500.jpg Merry-christmas-darren-criss-300x300.jpg 7678 Darren Criss Nov16m.jpg normal_00001.jpg|Darren, Cory, Dianna and Lea Darren-criss-little-mermaid-300x300.jpg Darren criss yearbook.jpg Darren-criss-day-in-the-life-aol-interview-300x300.jpg tumblr_lmg9gv0EPB1qi5w5f.jpg tumblr_lmeo0hWp1k1qi6sxbo1_500.jpg darrencriss4.jpg Tumblr lmq7w5ouQg1qzl9k5o1 500.jpg Darren.png aaron christopherson.png|Aaron Christopherson Darren-criss--large-msg-12966014827.jpg Darren-criss-amas-teenage-dream-with-katy-perry-01.jpg Robert-ulrich-darren-criss.jpg Tumblr leyzg84aoP1qehni3o1 500.jpg Orig-13981481.jpg Tumblr lmz51yD6NQ1qh4ah8o1 500.jpg darrencriss_008.jpg darrencriss_036.png darrencriss_033.png darrencriss_010.png Tumblr lmlm6p9m7l1qklpfbo1 500.png Tumblr lmh0pvKpQd1qd3dyzo1 500.jpg Tumblr lm64xpGeoN1qez31no1 500.gif Tumblr lmhtxeYbMh1qdxej0o1 500.gif Tumblr lme1h4DAP71qd1240o1 500.gif Tumblr lkl7n6uYy81qbz1e5o1 500.png imagesCAPM9C9J.jpg|His smile, love for music, pink glasses!! Tumblr lgmwbvYsqY1qbn5d5o1 500.png Tumblr lghtayxfU61qafewko1 500.gif lunapic_13086063526041_2.jpg|Parren = Darren + Pink Tumblr ln2iujrT2q1qffky9o1 500.gif|His signature. Tumblr lmwdj9aKeM1qa8ir9o1 r1 500.gif tumblr_lmz55jJXmP1qdbnj3o1_500.jpg princedarren.jpg woowww.png Tumblr ln5vqwA5DW1qdxej0o1 500.gif Tumblr lmm603CefN1qki5wso1 500.jpg Tumblr lmx6vwCGuC1qcjm7xo1 500.jpg Tumblr ln2bbwXLnv1qhqyogo1 r1 500.gif Tumblr lmweotN9pA1qbwvzoo1 500.jpg Tumblr lmveqz9OTg1qadue8o1 500.gif Tumblr lmsv52Beod1qduiw9o1 400.gif Tumblr lmrj0gMIqg1qgzqnco1 500.gif Tumblr ldvxagbKBV1qc7cqo.jpg DarrenCriss2.jpg Tumblr ln5q7xMNMU1qlsvh7o1 500.png Tumblr ln7vw9mGgq1qcayy9.gif Tumblr lgy7hkFy5o1qzf644.gif Tumblr lgy7fuxmIC1qzf644.gif Tumblr lgy6taq4yf1qzf644.gif darren 01.gif Category:Actors Category:Glee Actors